Mark I had sparks and MUD opening day. My flintlock was out of commission due to me not better protecting it from the rain. I did good job until I raised the muzzle to cover a spike buck. Rain ran down the side of the barrel and flooded the pan. I decided not to take it. My son came through when the spike walked by him. After listening to FIL, wife, brother etc kid me the rest of the day I put in a full day Sunday. I choked on a real hog [:(] that ran a doe by me. Then he stopped and hooked some branches while I reloaded, moving on as I pushed the ball down the barrel. I shot a 137 lb fork later in the day.

howdy stevesounds like you are getting a good work out with the deer , rain, and kin.I bet you are among the few in number , as i am, a great fan of the oldest American ball sport . ''PATCHED BALL'' Well I 'bout froze to a tree this mornin'. didn't see anything but squirrels and FROST. take care,,,,later

I have an Austin & Halleck ML shotgun that I have yet to fire. It's a good looking gun and the folks that I know who have them get very good patterns. I may take that on a turkey hunt some day.

I've shot a good many deer with ML rifles in years past. All of mine have been .50 caliber and I've always been a fan of T.C.

I built a T.C. New Englander from a kit many years ago and used it successfully for years.

My latest, which is now very old technology, is a T.C. Black Diamond. For a while I looked at all the new designs and thought I'd try one of those but then something else would come along that looked even better. I finally decided that mine works just fine and with as little as I shoot it, it will probably do the job for as long or longer than I can.

I enjoy shooting ML guns but just have not taken the time this year to really get into it.

Thanks,
Clark

"If he's out of range, it just means that he has another day and so do you."

morning Clarki 've seen those A&H arms and they are fine . i've been messin' 'round with charcoal burners since the early '70s when my dad built a 40 cal. flintlock from a dixie gun works kit. wish i still had it . in '04 i finally got around to buying the rifle i'd always like the most. well it's the one production rifle that really appeals to me.Lyman plains rifle . 50 cal. she's heavy but a fine shooter. someday i would like to try the shotgun game on turkey of course.there are , as you well know, so many modern style rifles to choose from . and i believe that they ALL will get the job done . most of the people i've run into that have trouble with any style , whether traditional or modern, always comes down to the fact thay the gun wasn't properly cleaned, either before the arm was loaded or after it was fired. a little bit of oil or grease will usually ruin a hunt. later

I carry an Win. 50 cal. inline and have had one shot oppurtunity thus far at a 150" class buck at 175yds. I was ready to call the taxidermy man. Squeessed the trigger and when the smoke cleared, there he stood, but only for a second, and then he walked into the woods. A few moments later as I'm glassing the area, wondering why on earth he didn't drop, I spyed a sapling about 40 yds in front of the blind that was just barely standing cause it had just suffered a 50cal. TC shockwave encounter of the worst kind. Checked the area real good and it was a clean miss so that was OK. I'm still loggin about 4-6 hours ever day tryin to get Mr. Bigg, but so far ain't seen anything big enough(150+) in range(200yds) to shoot at. But I am seeing big deer and it'll happen sooner or later.
I almost bought a nice A&H from a friend once,but the money was funny at the time, so it didn't happen. It had the prettiest tiger maple I've ever seen on a firearm. Good luck fellas!

evenin' fellersimagine what our forefathers endured with those finicky smoke poles.Hey ken ,haven't heard from you lately , thought maybe some old longbeard crawled up a wet ditch on you and put his hooks in your back.that rifle of yours, does it use regular #11 caps or 209 primers? either way , are they popping good or is the charge failing to ignite? check the flash hole in either style for any type of burrs on the inside. the question is based on the fact that a good many reloaders will de-burr the flash hole on new brass before the initial loading. it allows a more even and consistent ignition, which in turn results in better accuracy. i realize i'm stabbing in the dark ,,,just trying to help.hey hoosierhad the same thing happen to me once , only i was using a handgun.it doesn't take much to deflect any bullet . my 45 / 240 grainer turned south on me that day.that MR. BIGG,,,,,he'll mess up sooner or later.later fellers

back agin,KENIT IS BUGGING ME ABOUT YOUR RIFLE.please allow me to make a few comments and ask some questions , just to possibly help you put your finger on the problem.what was the weather like on the 2 most recent failures compared to when you were at the range last?are you using black powder , pyrodex powder or pyrodex pills? if it is the pills, are you sure you are putting the proper end toward the breech?not knowing what your rifle is, by make and model, is it one with a firing pin and is it protruding far enough and that smoothly.this could go back to the weather. was it cold enough to slow the movement of the pin?you don't have to respond to me if you don't want to i just wanted to throw these few things at you to help you find the problem.one more,,,if it is the pills that you are using,are you seating the the bullet FULLY DOWN against the pills. a 209 primer is very powerful by itself. if the bullet isn't tight against the pill , it is possible for the primer spark and gasses to actually move the pills. right you don't want to crush the pills ,,,just a tight seating of the bullet. take care

well no hooks in my back yet,i got threatened by 3 long beards tuesday morning when i climbeda tree beside their roost tree,one of them even gobbled after fly down.well my ol' gun is a knight wolverine it has a musket cap (my modification)i use pyro pellets & yes im putting the correct end down & im getting a good seat i marked my "packin stick"just so i would know the weather has been damp & frosty both times this year.if i had to name a cause i would say .....probably a little moisture in the nipple